WASHINGTON — Active Minds, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization promoting mental health awareness and education for youth and young adults, and UNCF (United Negro College Fund) are proud to announce the release of their latest report– Lessons from Black Colleges on Mental Health and Wellbeing: Practical Approaches for Historically Black Colleges and Universities to Support Student Belonging and Mental Health.

This new report provides actionable strategies that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) can use to address their campus’s mental health needs, while celebrating the unique strengths of HBCUs by showcasing their comprehensive and proactive approaches toward mental health promotion.

Best practices and recommendations in the report include:

• Create systems-level campus strategies
• Build and leverage partnerships
• Increase access to mental health supports
• Effectively promote campus mental health resources
• Center student voices
• Create a culture of caring between students and faculty/staff
• Educate campus community members
• Assess campus needs

“There is not a one-size fits all approach to the youth mental health crisis. Institutions need tailored support and recommendations to best serve their unique populations. That’s why I’m so inspired by the solutions that are highlighted in our latest report with UNCF,” said Alison Malmon, founder and executive director of Active Minds. “Implementing the strategies laid out in this report will help ensure that all members of HBCUs campus communities can contribute to the creation of a caring and productive learning environment that helps students thrive.”

“HBCUs, both historically and in the present, have been spaces of inclusion and belonging for a group of students that are not well served in higher education,” said Julian Thompson, director of strategy development of UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building. “We launched our national mental health campaign Unapologetically Free to build on the types of promising mental health practices included in this report, and hope it starts conversations about solutions that can increase an institution’s capacity to support student success.”

The full report is available at activeminds.org/UNCF.

To explore the recommendations further, Active Minds and UNCF will host a webinar on Tuesday, March 14 at 11 a.m. EST. “Lessons from Black Colleges on Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Panel Discussion,” will feature a panel of leaders from HBCUs as they discuss successful strategies for promoting mental health on campus. Learn more and register here.